SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA--In a part of the world where diplomacy usually means never saying you're sorry, South Korea's president publicly apologized to North Korea on Tuesday for a rally at which anti-communists burned a North Korean flag and an effigy of leader Kim Jong Il.

The nationally televised statement by Roh Moo Hyun paved the way for North Korea to participate in the Universiade, an 11-day student athletic tournament taking place in the South Korean city of Taegu.

The agreements, signed in December 2000, call for the two sides to protect each others' investments, avoid double taxation, open a direct route for financial transactions and establish a panel to settle trade disputes.

This autumn, countries that are members of the Proliferation Security Initiative, or PSI, will likely begin exercises in the Pacific Ocean and Mediterranean Sea to practice search and seizure operations against the transfer of materials for weapons of mass destruction, or WMD.

These activities could represent the beginning of a new global norm, but they will bypass South Korea -- despite its national aspirations to become a player on the world stage -- because Seoul cannot look past its own preoccupations.

With appeasement demanding so much of President Roh's time I can't see how he could find the time to help prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction. He's a busy man after all. Perhaps Roh could steal a page from North Korea's playbook and mercilessly suppress even the smallest signs of dissent from his policies. Then he wouldn't have to spend time apologizing for the crazy antics of freedom-loving protestors. Why not do this? After all, if Roh doesn't think people should protest against the behavior of the Pyongyang regime then he must not think there is any problem with the actions that Kim Jong-il takes.

This is not the first time Widaehan Suryong Roh Mu-hyeon Dongji has reacted strongly to the burning of the North Korean flag. Back in June, Korean riot police forcibly stopped anti-North Korean demonstrators from setting the Nork flag ablaze. The previous year, then President
Kim Dae-jung stopped protestors from burning North Korean flags and
portraits of Da' Fat Man during the Asian Games in Pusan. The irony, of
course, rests not only with the hands-off approach the government takes
with the burning of the American flag - in point of fact, the North
Korean flag is one of the few foreign flags that can be legally burned
in South Korea, given that Seoul does not actually recognize North
Korea as a nation.

Double standards about US and North Korean flags with the North Koreans getting more respect in South Korean? Who would have expected it? Okay, leave aside those who pay attention to what happens in South Korea. Who else would have expected it? Oh, alright, leave aside those who expect long-time American allies [Ed. former allies me: yeah, okay, former allies] to routinely dis on America for protecting their asses, who else would have expected it? Look at dogs. They are very loyal. Would they have expected it? No, of course not. Of course, dogs in Korea get eaten as delicacies. So maybe Robert Koehler doesn't expect Korean dogs to display loyalty. But isn't that the point? If a country isn't loyal to its dogs then why should we expect it to be loyal it its allies? [Ed. former allies me: yeah, okay, former allies] So what is going on in South Korea is a logical outcome of their use of dogs as human food.

Tension exists on the peninsula due to the
North’s ambition to build weapons of mass destruction. We sincerely
hope the North Koreans’ participation at the Daegu Universiade will
contribute to ease tensions, promote peace and mend sour ties.

You know what I'm fucking sick of? Listening to
any asshole with a mouth blabber on about how every athletic
competition, concert, and dance festival that includes both North and
South Korea is "promoting peace" or "easing tensions" on the
Korean peninsula. Guess what fucksticks? Archery
competitions and concerts aren't promoting anything but
archery and shitty pop music. Why is it that every
damn South Korean delegation has to make the argument that South
Korea deserves an Olympics or a World Cup or a frog-fucking festival
based on said event's potential for promoting peace, reconciliation, or
reunification with North Korea? Is there a single shred of
evidence to support that theory? Is it a pathetic play for
pity? Did the 2002 Asian Games in Busan -- in which North and
South Korea marched together under one flag -- convince North Korea to
cease their production of nukes? Did it stop them from murdering
6 South Korean sailors last summer? Did it prevent them from
firing at South Korean soldiers in the DMZ last month?

Please, shut the fuck up about promoting peace. It's
a broken record and I'm tired of it, particularly in light of the fact
that you bastards take every opportunity to piss on American soldiers,
who are the real reason there's been 50 years of
peace on the peninsula. That's right, North Korean flute
concertos don't contribute one iota to the protection of South Korean
lives. The GIs that you spit on, kidnap, harrass, disrespect,
call murderers, and generally despise...do.

What is it about people who most loudly promote peace? If you think "peace activist" do you immediately think "fool"? Or do you immediately think "idiot" and then only as an afterthought "fool"?

To protect the North Koreans and prevent possible defections or other incidents, the delegation at Busan last October was tightly guarded and sealed off from outsiders. Taegu organizers have vowed similar tight security this month.

The South Koreans are badly in need of a moral compass. They must have lost theirs.